Today we are going to show you the Thule Sidearm wheel mount bike carrier, part number TH594XT. The Thule Sidearm is a roof mounted bike rack that holds the bike by the wheels. Unlike other roof mounted bike racks, there is no wheel removal needed and there is no contact made with the bike frame. The universal mounting clamps allow you to attach this rack to not only Thule square load bars but also round and OEM style crossbars. The capacity is one bike weighing up to 50 pounds. The track will accommodate tires in widths up to 20 millimeters or 2.6 inches. The Thule Sidearm is covered by a limited lifetime warranty. On the underside of the rack is a track shaped into the aluminum channel. This track allows us to slide the clamp wherever we need it to accommodate a wide variety of roof rack sizes on your vehicle. The bike secures to the rack using this wheel hoop for the front tire and this hook that slides up and down and will lock on to the tire on the front. 1:07
You can also add the Thule one key lock system, part number TH512. The Thule one key system allows you to use the same lock for any of your Thule accessories. On this rack, there are two places for locks: one to secure the ratcheting hook so that your bike is secure to the rack and another to secure the rack to the roof rack of your vehicle. The rear tire is secured to the rack with this ratcheting strap. With the ratcheting strap pulled tight on the rear tire and the hook secured on the front tire, your bike will be nice and stable on the Thule Sidearm. 1:50
Today we are going to be installing the rack on a Ford Escape with the oval shaped OEM crossbars. To attach the Sidearm, we are going to undo one wing nut completely from each of the three mounts. That way we can swing the bottom half of the mount underneath our crossbars. Once we have the rack positioned, we can reinstall our wing nuts and tighten the rack down to our crossbars. We are going to repeat the same process for the other three clamps and then we will be ready to load our bike. In the front you want to make sure you have your wheel pulled nice and tight against this metal hoop. And up top you want to make sure that the ratcheting hook is pulled down tight against the tire. Once the front wheel is secure, we are going to take our ratcheting strap and secure the rear wheel. Make sure this bumper sits nice and centered on your wheel. That way it keeps the pressure straight down. All we need to do is pull our strap through. And once we get it pretty tight we will grab our buckle and lock it down. Once we have done that, our rear wheel is nice and secure. Once the bike has been secured to the rack we are ready to hit the road. And there you have it for the Thule Sidearm, part number TH594XT.
